New K-12 leader likes Florida views

The ex-education commissioner expects to meet less controversy than in Minnesota.

October 10, 2005|By Leslie Postal, Sentinel Staff Writer

In Minnesota, Cheri Pierson Yecke was seen as too conservative, too polarizing, too eager to overhaul public education. But in the power corridors of Tallahassee, Yecke may be more status quo than firebrand.

Yecke, 50, is Florida's new K-12 chancellor, helping to oversee public schools. She started her new job last week and should find the temperatures and the welcome warmer than in her native Minnesota.

"My passion has always been K-12, and what an honor to work for the Bush administration," she said of Gov. Jeb Bush. "Florida is on the cutting edge of so many education reforms."

Yecke served for 16 months as Minnesota's education commissioner, becoming controversial as she pushed for new academic standards and a system for rating schools. A Republican appointee who calls herself a social conservative, Yecke was ousted when the Democrat-led Senate refused in May 2004 to reconfirm her appointment.

"It was a great deal of change in a short period of time," Yecke said. "I became the political target."

Her opponents -- some determined enough to run a "Dump Yecke" Web site -- say she lost her job because she was too divisive, pushing her own conservative agenda when she led the revision of social-studies and science standards.

They argue Florida could be in for the same as it reviews its own academic standards in the next few years.

Mary Cecconi, the head of a Minnesota parents group, said Yecke created "this huge division and these fights" as she pushed reform.

"As a parent, my concern was the politicizing of our kids' public-education system," Cecconi said. "Why are we looking at political gain as opposed to how are we to teach a third-grader to read?"

Of course, much of Yecke's agenda that caused controversy in Minnesota already is in place in Florida, including academic standards for each grade, standardized testing and the grading of schools.

Yecke has a keen interest in middle-school reform and is the author of the book The War Against Excellence: The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools. Middle- and high-school reform also is a priority of Bush and Education Commissioner John Winn, Yecke's new boss.

Winn said Florida leaders first courted Yecke two years ago, impressed with her credentials -- she was a top education official in Virginia and worked for the U.S. Department of Education -- and an educational philosophy that matched their own.

"We felt like she is not only just a tremendous thinker, she knows how to get things done."

Winn said Yecke will be part of a leadership team, however, and "won't be acting independently." In the end, he added, he has final say on what staff recommendations are forwarded to the State Board of Education for approval.

Since losing her Minnesota post, Yecke has been working, and writing, for the Center of the American Experiment, "Minnesota's conservative think tank." Earlier this year, she had started campaigning for Congress on a platform of tightening government spending, revamping Social Security and banning same-sex marriages. She ended that effort when she accepted the Florida job.

Backers, critics speak out

Her advocates call her determined and hardworking.

"She is someone who burns the midnight oil all the time on a variety of issues on education," said Kirk Schroeder, a former president of Virginia's Board of Education who worked with Yecke. "I found her to be very reasonable in her dealings but very firm in her convictions."

Mickey VanDerwerker, a parent activist and School Board member in Virginia, found Yecke intolerant of opposing views.

"She may have learned something from the mess in Minnesota," she said. "In Virginia, she didn't listen."

Still, VanDerwerker, who runs a group opposed to using test scores to judge schools, said she did admire Yecke's commitment.

"To her credit, she was one of the only folks at the Department of Education who would come out and debate -- in part because she really believes it."

Yecke got her career start as a teacher in Stafford County, Va., where she won teacher-of-the-year accolades. She also served on the Virginia state Board of Education and worked as deputy secretary and secretary of education there.

She is married to a former Marine, and they have two grown daughters, one of whom is a student at Florida State University.

In Florida, she wants to focus on improving middle schools, closing the "achievement gap" between white and minority students and ensuring parents have educational choices.

She has been calling for middle-school reform for the past several years and rankling some middle-school advocates in the process. In a recent paper, she argues that the "middle school concept" too often has focused more on developing self-esteem than on achievement, leading to declining skills among teenagers.

Paul George is a University of Florida education professor mentioned and criticized in Yecke's book and article. George, whose area of expertise is middle-school education, said Yecke attacks concepts that are outdated.